3 charged in bribe plot tied to pot dispensary in Garden City

So just how lucrative is the medical pot business? Apparently plenty, given one man allegedly offered to pay $20,000 a month in bribes to Garden City officials for a dispensary permit and $150,000 to state officials for a grow license.
Detroit Free Press

Prosecutors say three family members conspired to pay bribes to Garden City officials to try to get them to allow a medical marijuana dispensary.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday the indictment against 54-year-old Mike Baydoun, his 52-year-old brother, Ali Baydoun, and 38-year-old nephew, Jalal Baydoun. The indictment says they conspired last year to bribe the mayor, police chief and three City Council members in Garden City.

Federal authorities say they were willing to pay $150,000 if they could get a permit for a dispensary approved by City Council. Prosecutors say Ali Baydoun in December handed an official an envelope with $15,000, apparently $5,000 for each of three council members.The official gave the envelope to the FBI.

Prosecutors say they also offered city officials a 25% cut of the profits, a police car and enough money to pay for a police officer's yearly salary in exchange for a license to grow up to 1,500 medical marijuana plants in the city.

Under Garden City's ordinance governing medical marijuana businesses, only two growing facilities could be located in the city and two businesses were already operating. The Baydouns allegedly tried to bribe city officials to amend the ordinance and expand the number of marijuana businesses in Garden City.

The indictment also indicates that the $150,000 that would be put in an escrow account would be used to pay additional bribes to Garden City officials and "unknown State of Michigan officials" in order to obtain the necessary licenses to get involved in the lucrative medical marijuana business.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it was unable to comment on further investigation into the bribery plot or who from the State of Michigan might be suspected.

The State of Michigan's Medical Marijuana Licensing Board won't start issuing licenses to the five classes of medical marijuana businesses — grower, transporter, tester, dispensary and seed-to-sale tracking — until early next year. Applications for licenses won't be available until Dec. 15.

But already, a multitude of lobbyists have begun to represent businesses looking to get a piece of an estimated $700-million cannabis pie. If full legalization of marijuana for recreational use gets on the ballot and is passed in 2018, the business is expected to explode to more than $1 billion a year.

So far eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized recreational marijuana, while 29 states have legalized some form of medical marijuana use.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430 or kgray99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @michpoligal. The Associated Press contributed to this report.